Cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins are not just for investments like most people have seen them but can provide payment rails needed to meet the region’s goals for financial inclusion, according to Yellow Card’s boss.
Speaking to TechMoran on the sidelines of the East Africa Bitcoin Conference, Chris Maurice, CEO Yellow Card said, ” Cryptocurrencies are not meant to be investments like most people have popularly used them. Crypto is supposed to be for everyday use, for payments, daily use for the masses. We are making it possible to provide the payment rails needed for Africa’s financial inclusion.”
Yellow Card , operating across 20 countries, is the largest Stablecoin on-ramp/off-ramp plaform on the African continent enabling businesses to buy and sell USDT, USDC, and PYUSD via their local currency directly and through its Payments API.
Yellow Card’s payments API works across the 20 countries in Africa and recently partnered with Coinbase and Block to help them launch in Africa and also mke payments, collect payments, and be able to serve African customers.
In Africa, stablecoins such as USDT, PYUSD, USDC are the most popular and their demand is also going up but Bitcoin and Ethereum are so popular but not as the stablecoins due to the high transaction costs.
“Ethereum is expensive to use but there’s a chance for stablecoins to change things on the continent,” said Maurice. “Stablecoins provide interoperability and will enable intra-Africa and inter-Africa payments and even internationally. They make it easy for people to send and receive money across countries, faster and cheaply and they will revolutionize how money moves across Africa.”
Yellow Card’s API and widget products are gateways for international businesses (including Coinbase and Block) to tap into African markets. They also help Pan-African companies to easily make international payments and manage their treasury via stablecoins. Additionally, Yellow Card is developing innovative new products for the continent, strengthening its team and systems, and continuing to lead engagement with regulators across the continent.
Yellow Card remains steadfast in its commitment to empowering the continent by making it easy for businesses of all sizes to make international payments, manage their treasury, and access hard currency liquidity via stablecoins.
Recently Alchemy Pay partnered with Yellow Card for its widely adopted payment methods across Africa. By leveraging Yellow Card’s payment API, Alchemy Pay is simplifying access to crypto assets and decentralized finance, making it easier for millions of people across Africa to engage with crypto in a secure and familiar way, ultimately contributing to the broader adoption of blockchain technologies on a global scale.
The deal is part of Yellow Card’s mission to make it easier for users in countries such as Botswana, Cameroon, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia to purchase crypto and access the benefits of decentralized finance through local currencies like BWP, XAF, RWF, ZAR, UGX, and ZMW.